Schmitz-Maki Ice Arena will get more work

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Farmington’s Schmitz-Maki Ice Arena will get some more work done this year, thanks to some funding left over from a 2010 renovation project.

At a Monday workshop, the Farmington City Council identified three improvements which will be funded by $111,744 that remains in the 2010 project account.

Parks and recreation director Randy Distad explained that the funds are left over from a $1.160 million general obligation bond the city sold to complete a significant remodeling project nearly three years ago.

The funds can only be spent on capital improvements to the arena, Distad said. He consulted with the city’s financial advisors, Ehlers and Associates, and the city’s bond counsel, Dorsey & Whitney, to come up with a list of seven proposed improvements.

From that list, council members identified three projects that could be covered with the remaining funds. Part of the funds, $22,977, will be used to replace the heating system for the bleacher area, and another $28,635 is earmarked to replace the furnace in locker rooms five and six.

The big-ticket item will be to remove the existing dehumidification system and install a new one, which will cost approximately $60,500.

“I think the greatest good is served by those,” council member Doug Bonar said.

The dehumidification project had been on the ice arena’s capital improvement program list in the past, Distad said, but funding has been an issue in getting that work done.

Distad will bring a formal recommendation back to the Farmington City Council at its March 18 meeting. The work will be scheduled this summer.

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